Of Water And Grass
by DreamingFromASmallTown
Summary: Kisame never could image where his life was going to lead after he saves some kid from drowning, when he was only 19. Follow them on their journey as they grow and change, come together and apart, and maybe even fall in love and have a family. Kisame/Oc enjoy. First Oc ever made to go with Kisame. Hope you enough please tell me what you think M for most likely later chapters!
1. Chapter 1 Drowning

Manami felt herself pulled deeper into the water. She could not swim even though she was ten in age. She had grown a fear of water after nearly drowning when she was only four. She tried to gasp for air however; it only pulled more water into her lungs. She whimpers lightly the sound like her caught and trapped in the water. She had stopped struggling after the first few terrifying moments. No one was around to help her, the other children of the village she had seen ran off laughing, when she had still struggled at the surface. They had brutally pushed her off the dock into the deeper end of the lake after having chased her down.

She looked up at the surface of the water as she went farther and farther under, she could see the sun setting even as she sank. She slowly let her eyes close, falling into acceptance that she was going to drown. She felt darkness start to pull at her, making her slowly forget where she was or what was happening. Suddenly the faintest of feeling grasped her. Like a ripple starting in a small puddle and growing, she felt safe all of a sudden, could feel the weight of the water start to lessen. Her eyes fluttered up, as she coughed violently to the point she wondered if her lungs were going to start to bleed. She forces herself into a sitting position, feeling her soaked clothes cling to her moving like a second thick skin. She was on solid ground the earth under her not pulling her as the water had. She did not even think to wonder how it had happened until a voice pulled her attention.

"Damn kid, what the hell?" The voice rough and deep was coming from her left. She slowly turned her head still in a coughing fit. She looked at the owner of the voice, the first thing she realizing was they were blue?

As her coughing fit subsided spitting out water occasionally forcing it from her lungs, she focused better on her savior. Her eyes did not betray her; he was in fact a light grayish blue. He was tall far taller than her, with a lean smooth muscular structure to him. He held three gill like marks on each of his cheeks under his dark eyes that were fitting to a shark. His hair was a dark ocean blue with his forehead protector helping to hold it up in place out of his eyes. He was a mist ninja, wearing the standard ninja attire of the village. He was soaking wet just as she was, obviously being the one that saved her from her watery grave.

She tilted her head to the side looking at him, appearing very tired to him. Then again, after almost drowning that would take a toll on anyone. She felt the water drip down from her hair and face, landing either on to her clothes or on to the soft grass under her. She licked her lips panting lightly trying to get her breath back into her lungs. She swallowed thickly taking in one last deep breath exhaling slowly as if trying to ensure herself that she was not going to start sinking again, before looking at her savior with full attention.

"You're blue." She says not uttering a word of thanks or gratitude just simply speaking one of the most obvious things apparent in that moment.

"You don't say, I hadn't realized." The blue male says with a light growl showing that he held sharply pointed teeth that were also very fitting for a shark.

"I don't see how you didn't know," She says pulling her knees to her chest starting to shiver lightly. The sun setting allowed the humid air to cool down and wrap around her wet being. She started to shiver as goose bumps prickled at her skin, teeth chattering.

She looks to the man when she hears a snort come from him before she was wrapped in a large vest. She blinks slowly though did not question the action simply wrapping the vest around her tighter. She allowed her chin to rest on her knees looking at the ground; she assumed the mist nin had done the obvious of removing the vest before jumping in after her. She watched from the corner of her eye as the mist nin adjusted to sitting on the ground cross legged by her side.

"You got a name kid? Or at least home I can take you too?" The mist nin asks. His voice was slightly harsh, though she figured that was from her not thanking him on saving her life.

"I'm Manami Rikimaru." Manami explains. "I don't have a home….I live by myself in a small building complex on the other side of town." She says sniffling lightly to herself. She felt the mist ninja's eyes on her though she did not bother to look at him. "I stay out here most nights, away from the village." She adds glancing from the ground to the tree line where a small clearing just barely seen with a camp already set up. She gasped in surprise when being picked up into the mist ninja's arms that easily carried her over to the clearing that was about 20 feet away.

She did not say anything as he placed her on the ground and watched as the strange ninja walked into the forest. Several long minutes later, he came back with a large pile of wood dropping it beside a small fire pit. He easily started a fire that Manami moved over to stretching her arms out to warm her hands. She sighed slightly more content after a long moment or two as she felt heat coming back to her body. The sun by this point had almost completely disappeared behind the horizon, the sky darkening to a deep blackish blue.

"What's your name?" Manami asks in a quiet voice looking across the fire where the blue male sat.

"Kisame Hoshigaki." He states simply. He looks back at the girl only now really taking in what she looked like. He looks at her lightly tan skin that by the fire seemed to have a faint ivy glow. Her large golden green eyes and, lightly rounded face still holding just the slightest of baby fat to it. Her hair was very short being up close to ears and held an ambry effect going from prefect pitch black to soft snow white. Her clothes were obviously old being worn and torn, and being fairly, dirty. She wore a pair of simply blue plants with a white shirt that held three large light pink flowers on it.

"Thank you, Kisame…. for saving me." Manami says her eyes held far too many emotions, some of which Kisame could no longer name. He trained for just one to many years to remember just what emotions were and that humans were, meant to feel, and just be emotionless weapons.

"You're welcome kid. Why were them other brats gaining up on you anyway?" Kisame questions. He had been walking along the forest line on the other side of the lake when he had heard her scream. He became curious and went to check it out, when he saw the group of kids. They had Manami trapped at the edge of the dock with no escape, obviously mocking her and tormenting her as they pushed her around, before finally giving the final shove causing her to crash into the water.

"They don't like me in the village. No one does." Manami says with a heavy sigh. She looks down from Kisame's gaze seeing the question in his eyes. The very question that just about everyone that met her asked at some point. "They say I'm a monster." She says closing her eyes; however, she jumped crawling backwards slightly as Kisame burst into a full-hearted laugh. It echoed lightly in the surrounding forest, it was deep and rough just like his voice, yet somehow smooth.

"They think you are monster? The hell I want to know what they think of me." Kisame says flashing a toothy grin once he managed to stop laughing. "You aren't any kind monster kid, I don't know what those villagers are on but they need to get off it." He says with a heavy shrug of his shoulders.

Manami blinks lightly looking at Kisame, with wide, rabbit like eyes. She had gotten many reactions from peoples from her answer. However, laughter and disagreement where yet to be among them, though there was a first for everything. She blinked her eyes once, twice, three times before they went back to normal size and she allowed the sudden tension to leave her back shoulders from being scared at Kisame's laugh.

"Well that's what they say. I do not know why though. No one has ever given me an answer. I only got beaten for when I use to ask, they always yelling the same thing that I know the answer already." She says wrapping her arms around her legs. "After so long of no one wanting me around I just came out here." She explains with a light shrug.

Kisame looks at her for a long moment, trying to see the monster that all of the villagers apparently saw. However, he could not find in anyway this kid was a monster, if she looked deformed or something like him he could understand it. She lived in a small non-ninja raising village. Nonetheless, she looked like just a normal sad, lost, scared kid to him. She did not look like a threat to even an insect in his eyes; he could easily kill her with one swing of his sword. He pondered for a moment if the kid longed for death. He had, had a rough childhood even in the mist, people of blue coloration not being the most common of things. Yet, he still had friends, allies, fellow ninja that would lay down their lives to help him; he never once been completely segregated from his village as this kid was.

"How old are you kid?" Kisame asks true curiosity gripping him. Something pulled at his heart for this kid made him feel, remorse, he was fairly, sure that was the emotion he was feeling in that current moment.

"I'm ten." Manami says letting out a slight yawn. "How old are you?" She asks she could tell he was at least in his late teens or possibly even his early twenties.

"I'm nineteen." Kisame says looking around the area lightly. He hears Manami hum lightly catching her nod her head to his answer. He looks at her fully again when she lay down on the soft grass by the fire. Her left arm, bent at the elbow resting under her head to act as a pillow.

"Why are you all the way out here?" She says letting out a second yawn. He could tell she was trying very hard to keep her eyes open. To keep the conversation going, it was not hard to figure out that being hated by her village she did not often have someone to talk too that was not terrified of her.

"I had a solo mission. I was assigned to kill a noble out in this area." Kisame explains looking at the girl as she could barely keep her eyes open. The sun had long disappeared, the stars had come out and only a sliver of the moon showed in the sky yet it provided more than enough light to illuminate the earth.

"Oh I see." Manami says, her eyes slowly starting to close before fluttering open again. Kisame watched her do this for several seconds before she thought of something else to say though it brought shock to him. "Kisame, will you stay here with me tonight?" She asks pleading ever so slightly.

Kisame blinked several times at the question presented to him. He would have never imagined the girl would ask something like that. She had only met him, than again he could easily see that the girl even if not a monster was different. He had saved her yes, but he had saved many that freaked out right after taking full note of his appearance. Not just that she seemed fairly, content with him being around. Then again, the girl had horrible dark circles under her eyes he could not help but wonder if she ever really got a good night's rest. He pondered the girl's request for a moment before closing his eyes sighing as he slowly nodded his head.

"If you go to sleep yes I will stay." He says. After all it was only one night, he had finished his mission early and had more than enough time to blow off before needing to head back to the mist. Besides, if anything, he could always sneak away in the middle of the night when the girl was fully, asleep; it was not as if he was ever going to see her again after this. He had only been nice with saving her because… Well he was not sure, he chopped it up to that he saw drowning as a pathetic way of dying, and kids were just mean little brats.

"Okay Kisame" Manami says with a final yawn. Her eyes drifting shut and staying in said position. "Thank you again" She whispers just load enough to be heard over the slowly dying crackle of the fire.


	2. Chapter 2 From Love to Hate

Kisame looked at Manami for a few moments, once he was sure she was fully, asleep he got up. He moved over to the woodpile tossing a few of the dried logs and sticks into the dimming fire pit. He sat back down in his original spot looking up at the dark sky, he looking at the stars tracking them lightly with his eyes. He closes his eyes as a cool breeze blew by him, he opens them again looking to Manami. For some unknown reason to him he could not get what she had told him out his mind, how the villagers of the nearby village thought of her as a monster.

He could feel nothing different about her chakra structure, other than that is was undeveloped from not being trained by a ninja. She looked perfectly normal, just a normal ten year old kid. The only monster he could see in this equation was the villagers; they had cast out a child, leaving her with absolutely thing. He found himself lost in his thoughts for several hours just pondering on what she possibly could have done to make them see her as something of evil. However, when he could not think of anything of logical reasoning for them or otherwise he found himself slightly more annoyed then he thought he would get, with just the slightest ting of rage that made his inner beast growl in frustration.

He let out a snort as Manami shifted lightly in her sleep pulling her legs slightly closer to her chest. It was a slightly chilled night, that even though the fire helped, he knew the kid should be in a warm bed in a nice house. He turns looking in the direction of the village that the kids that had been bullying her had run too. He taps his fingers against his knee in no particular rhythm before standing up, sword in hand. 'Fuck it' He thought as he started to the village, he was coming up with no answers on his own; his curiosity had been peeked just a bit too much for him to just leave without getting answers, as he started for the village.

The walk most would have found nice, taking only may twenty minutes, following a smoothed over dirt path. The forest lined the path on either side, casting a canopy from overhead. The moonlight that blanketed the earth allowed shadows to cast down on the path, the same effect given in the day. Most travelers would find the walk a pleasant one before coming upon the small village the lies at the end.

It was a small farming village, with a few homey shops the ma and pa kind, passed down from generation to generation. Most of the forest around the village cleared for crops planting and animals set out to pasture. The houses where cute, all around the same size and clustered more to one area, allowing the farmers wider range and the shops in another small part. Kisame walked, the street lit by the streetlights, and was slightly surprised to find three small bars open as he walked. They were all within eyeshot of one another and Kisame casually walked over to the most crowed one.

He could not help but smirk as he passed a few smokers that went pale at the sight of him. He moved into the bar not saying a word to anyone, the people inside giving him much the same look as the smokers from outside had. Each one going pale as a ghost, mouth slightly a gap like a fish out of water, eyes wide as a full moon. Most others stared at in such a manner would have felt offended; however, Kisame long ago had become accustomed to the looks. He moved to the bar sitting down on a stool, some music played from a jut box that was in the far left corner. Granted Kisame was not old enough to drink, but he had stopped being ID, outside of the Mist when he was sixteen or so. Between his height and appearance, not many really dared to ask if he was actually old enough to be drinking.

"Bar lackey, a bottle of sake." Kisame says setting his sword so it sat propped up against his stool. The bar lackey looked scared for move for a moment, only looking at Kisame holding his breath. "Hey! I said a bottle of Sake." Kisame say again, making the bar lackey jump slightly and quickly scramble to get a bottle of sake.

Kisame snorted lightly as he waited. He looked around the bar seeing all of the people most of whom were looking at him from down cast eyes. He only shrugged turning back to the bar as the lackey came back setting down a bottle of sake followed by a glass. Kisame muttered thanks as he poured some of the sake into the glass and took a swallow of it. He cleared his throat lightly as the bar tender went to hurry off. Kisame removes the glass from his lips looking at the bartender from the corner of his eye.

"Hey I got a question." Kisame says making the bartender stop dead in his tracks and very slowly turn back around. Kisame could not only see the fear that came off the person in waves but smell it as well.

"Yes sir?" The bar tender asks trying his best to keep his voice as smooth as possible.

"There is a kid on the outskirts of this town. What's the deal with her?" He asks bringing the glass back up and taking another gulp finishing the drink and starting to pour another.

"Oh you saw her?" The bar tender says looking slightly nervous. "Don't worry about her, she's an umm…She ain't known for bringing the best of luck." The bar tender says. Kisame knew that man wanted to call her a monster but considering whom he was talking to, he obviously decided that it was not the best chose of words.

"Bad luck you say? She looks like a normal kid to me." Kisame says looking at the glass in hand and chugs it in one gulp before sliding it down to the bar tender choosing to just drink from the bottle.

"That's what she wants you to think. It is only her outer appearance, in reality she is actually a mo-de… Not human." The bar tender says stumbling lightly over his words shifting from where he stood behind the counter of the bar. Kisame watched his go ridged as he let out a deep chuckle.

"Not human huh, I know the feeling." Kisame say grinning showing his shark like fangs in all their glory, he watched as the bar tender took the smallest of steps backwards. "Tell me something; you know what makes this kid 'not human'?" He asks picking up the bottle and taking a drink.

"No sorry… I have to get back to work." The bar tender says quickly before hurrying off to help the next costumer.

Kisame rolled his eyes lightly setting his elbow on the counter that belonged to the hand he held the sake bottle. He was slightly impressed to find that sake in the town was not very bad. However, it was doing nothing to kill his curiosity or to make him like the people of the village anymore. He was sure they most likely held some agreement with one of the smaller ninja villages in order to have some kind of protection. Yet Kisame had not seen a single ninja yet, maybe they thought they were safer without ninja villages trying to interfere with their lives, which to some level was possibly true. Kisame pushed the thoughts out of mind as he went back to focusing on the sake bottle in hand. He drank it down without talking to anyone else about Manami; most of the villagers had made sure slowly to clear the area around him anyway. Therefore, he was surprised when an old man walked up and sat by him.

He let out a hum but said nothing to the old man, who stared straight ahead of him not saying a word. The man had a glass that he set on the counter, thinning salt and pepper colored hair. He grew a thick long beard in matching coloration to his hair, his eyes were a silverish that made Kisame wonder if the old man was blind. He wore simple enough clothes of loose fitting brown kimono skirt and off gray kimono styled pants.

"I hear you were asking about Manami, the girl out the outskirts of our little village here." The old man suddenly spoke as he picks up his glass taking a drink; of whatever it was, he was drinking.

"That's the kid name huh." Kisame says, acting as if he had not spent the past couple of hours conversing with the girl.

"It is fella, speaking of names you got one?" The old man asks licking his lips, as he set the glass back on the counter with a quite tap. "Mines, Osaum Rikimaru." The old man says crossing his arms on top of the counter. He missed the slight widening of Kisame's eyes as he kept looking forward.

"Kisame Hoshigaki." Kisame says taking another drink from his bottle.

"You're a mist ninja." Osaum says looking into his glass. "We don't get to many ninja that pass through these parts. It's normally pretty quiet around here, safer for most." Osaum says cracking his neck. "The bar tender told me you were here. Why are you asking about Manami?" He questions lightly.

"Curious is all, walking by looking for a place to stay after finishing a mission; to find some brat hiding in the woods. Just seemed odd to me is all when a village is so close by." Kisame easily lies shrugging his shoulders in a nonchalant manner.

"Manami is no child, not in reality. She is a monster, a demon in sheep's clothing." Osaum says with a snort, either not caring about Kisame's own appearance or told of it. "When the Third Shinobi War was coming to an end it took it longer for it die out full all the way out here. A ninja came to our village looking for refugee carrying a baby in arm. My son, who was a simply farmer and made sure this village ran smoothly even in the hardest of times, kindly took the ninja in." Osaum explains venom slipping into his tone of voice. He picks up his drink chugging the last of however much was left within.

"Yeah so what happened from there, old timer?" Kisame asks with a light hum.

"The ninja tells my son and his wife how he saved the child from a small ninja village that was destroyed during the war. He had planned to take her back to his home village; he was from the village hidden in the rocks. However, with closer inspection of his injuries it was obvious he was not going to live long, he knew this. He asked my son to watch over child to give or at least find her a good home. This made my son and his wife very happy, they had been trying to conceive a child for a handful of years by that point, only to find out my beautiful daughter-in-law had been born barren." Osaum tells reaching over and picking up the sake bottle Kisame had paid for, pouring another glass without asking for permission.

"This is sounding like the perfect little fairy tale to me so far old man," Kisame says taking the sake bottle back and taking a swig. "Loving couple wanting a kid and their wish is granted." He says once he had swallowed.

"Doesn't it now," Osaum says with a snort of disgust. "Well it continues as such for a time. The ninja died the next morning, we were kind burying him close to the forest edge and giving him a small grave. My son and wife mourned over his death; after all he had given them their prayed for child, a beautiful, healthy baby girl. They gave her the name Manami, for they held a love for the sea. Shortly after, all signs of war left the surrounding area, life continued as it always does. With Manami brought into our village our crops did better, cattle gave birth to more offspring stronger and healthier than in previous years. Yet we had changed nothing in how we tended the crops or what we gave to the animals. Manami grew over the next few years, a happy, curious child. She would run around the village with all the other children playing games and such never getting into trouble. She seemed like a true angel, it was discovered when she was only four years old that she held an odd power about her." Osaum says taking a sip of his drink pressing his lips together in a tight line.

"A power?" Kisame asks turning his body to look at Osaum. Osaum nodding his head, he continued to look ahead of him where the bottles of other alcohol were lined on shelves behind the counter.

"Yes, my son had been in a farming accident. It resulted in his leg being broken. It should have put him out of commission for months. However, once brought him long he was resting on the couch, Manami woke from an afternoon nap. She went over to him asking him if he wanted to play with her. He told her he could not that he had gotten hurt long he was working, Manami acting like any normal four old pouted looking down at his leg, and with my very own eyes I saw her reach out setting her tiny hand on his knee. Her mother told her not to touch, that she could hurt daddy more, when an odd soft pink light came from her hand enveloping my son's leg. It shocked all of us, yet when the light was gone my son was able to stand, his leg no longer broken. He picked Manami up in his arms spinning her around the room and his wife as they both laughed in delight. They both saying they really had been given an angel to care for a raise."

Kisame's eyes widen at the information that Osaum had just told him. If the kid could really heal without having any training at all as a ninja, she was a great ascent to any ninja village. After all it took a great deal of time to become a medic and in times of war there was hardly enough time to make sure enough could be trained to be not only on the battle field but also back within villages. Granted, currently the lands where in a time peace a time of true prosperity and calm, one of when all five of the leading ninja nations wished to sustain for a long time to come. Kisame was drew out of him marvel when Osaum started to talk yet again, Kisame picking up the sake and taking a drinking.

"My Son and Daughter-in-law had been over joyed; I however was not so much. I found it odd that this child held such a power, and even begged them to send her away. Yet, the refused to listen they refused to see the danger that the child could hold. Talk of the healing powers that Manami held so spread over the village, a saint she was seen as even though she was still just a child. Rumors started to spread over the land and more and more people came from farther away, she healed injury after injury and even a few fatal illnesses. One day a group of rouge ninja came to our village looking for her. They raided every house demanding to know where this miracle child was, yet no one answered them. They killed some, men, women and child; they did not care, long making all the rest of us gather outside as they went through our homes. My son and his wife lived on the small house that overlooks our village; I watched them as three of them made their way up to my son's home. They broke in the door, incoherent yelling soon followed before scream of pain and a dark light made each of the windows glow. Everyone looked up as the dark light slowly crept down the hill into our village. It turned tangible somehow turning to long spear long rods that pierced anything that moved. It killed the ninja and twice as many villagers, one of which had been my wife of twenty-five years, before finally it sunk back up to my son's home fading. It took me several moments to gather myself before me and several of the other village men ran up to my home. When I looked inside everything from the walls to the ceiling was covered in blood. My son and his wife had been pierced by the light just has my own wife had been, yet Manami was no were. I found her sobbing behind the couch face buried in her knees, I bent down to hug her however when she looked at me she had the face of a demon. Black marks on her face and hands, devil red eyes and fangs; she had been the cause of the destruction. The one that killed my wife and son, she was the reason for the ninja having come in the first place." Osaum says growling before suddenly throwing his glass having it shatter as is collided with one of the shelves behind the bar.

Kisame sat staring at Osaum for a long moment taking in the story he had just told. If it was true, the girl certainly held power, however, she did not understand nor how to control it. Not only that even though she had killed innocent people she had not meant too, this Kisame was sure of, much less her own parents. The girl overall had been defending herself out of fear, yet these villagers, that she had helped before this 'accident' has cast her out. They turned their view of her from a savor to savage in minutes. Kisame believed her that she did not know why the village hated her, in her panic and desperation she most likely had blacked out and forgotten the whole experience. Kisame knew of many young ninja that reacted the same way after making their first kill on a mission or in a battlefield.

"I advise you to stay away from that child; she will only bring you misfortune if you do otherwise. She is a monster a demon that need be exterminated." Osaum says, everyone in the bar was staring at this point in the general direction of Kisame and Osaum. No real surprise after Osaum had thrown his glass, they and Kisame watched as Osaum slowly stood from the bar.

Kisame watched as Osaum started to slowly walk away heading to the exit of the bar. His fingers drummed against the counter watching the old man, thinking over his story. His eyes narrowed slowly as he felt himself slowly losing control, his inner demon had found distaste to the story. Kisame tried to keep control but he felt himself slowly losing it, slowly locked away in an inner prison in his own body. He felt himself move picking up his sword, eyes still locked on Osaum's back. He removed his sword from its sheath moving quickly and fluidly to stand right behind Osaum before diagonally cutting through the old man becoming, covered in his blood. He looked up at occupants of the bar as they scrambled like rat screaming and rushing out. He felt himself smirk before blacking out his demon taken over full control, to do as it pleased.


End file.
